​​Derby coloured in blue and white again

FC Porto beat Boavista 3-0 and retains the lead of Liga NOS. Aboubakar, Marega and Brahimi were the scorers

FC Porto was stronger and beat Boavista in the derby of matchday ten of Liga NOS. The goals scored by Aboubakar, Marega, and Brahimi gave colour to a difficult victory, in a demanding stadium, and mean the lead of the championship. The team is now up to 28 points, two more than Sporting, second, and five more than Benfica. Next is Leipzig, on Wednesday, for matchday four of Group G of the UEFA Champions League.

For the 135th derby of Porto, Sérgio Conceição chose to send in the same team that did so well in the previous matchday, in the victory over Paços de Ferreira: there were eight new faces in comparison to the match against Leixões. The start of the match, between minute one and twenty, was the most exciting period of the first-half. Yusupha was the biggest headache for the defensive midfield, as the Gambian forward forced José Sá to two saves.

After the first 20 minutes, the match lost pace, with flamboyance giving way to intensity, especially in the fight for the midfield. That was the territory of Danilo and Herrera, and often of Marega, Brahimi, and Aboubakar, who dropped back to help, both when starting attacks and help on the defence. In the midst of the fight, the first-half ended with Corona in disbelief, after Alex Telles found him in good shooting position: the Mexican missed the ideal moment to shoot with his right foot, and the ball bounced off the pitch and over the goal defended by Vagner.

The good moment at the end of the first-half seemed to have a good effect on the Dragons, as the break was followed by a new moment of inspiration. Aboubakar put the ball between Fábio Espinho's legs, Corona passed to Brahimi, who passed right back to the Cameroonian striker, opening the scoreboard in Estádio do Bessa (50m). The thousands of fans who painted the stands in blue and white celebrated a moment that brought to the match the best of FC Porto.

The team played closer to the goal (Brahimi and Herrera were close to the second goal), while, in the back, the tune and safety were the usual, before a Boavista that, it should be said, was not satisfied with the disadvantage. But truth is that audacity came at a high price. With more space, the insatiable appetite of the Dragon came up and Marega (80m), and then Brahimi (86m) increased the goal count, closing another derby that confirmed the trend of the last decade at Estádio do Bessa: now at five matches, the Dragons have five victories, 12 goals scored and 0 goals conceded.